Search begins for new Ipas CEO
Ipas President and CEO, Liz Maguire, has announced her decision to step down in the summer of 2015, opening the way for the search to begin for a new President and CEO to be in place by that time.
According to Ms. Maguire, “My decision is part of a plan for a phased transition in Ipas Executive Team leadership to the next generation of leaders that has been under discussion with the Board for over a year. I am pleased that I will be able to leave Ipas in very strong shape, with a track record of outstanding technical leadership, innovation and results as well as a broad and stable donor base.”
Ms. Maguire joined Ipas in September 1999 to work, in her words, “on the most challenging, stigmatized and neglected area of women’s reproductive health – safe abortion care.” Ipas’s mission is to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion and to enable women to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights.
In a statement by Marie Bass, the Chair of the Ipas Board of Directors, “We have a tall order to replace the dedicated and visionary leadership Liz Maguire has provided to Ipas during the past 15 years. The search for another dynamic CEO to carry out Ipas’s critical mission will begin immediately in order to allow sufficient time to conduct a thoughtful and thorough process.”
Under Ms. Maguire’s leadership over the past 15 years, in collaboration with a wide range of partners, Ipas’s reach and impact have grown dramatically. Ipas’s presence in Africa and
Asia has expanded significantly and has been sustained in key parts of Latin America. The organization has continued to serve as an innovator and catalyst for change in increasing access to safe abortion technologies, provider training and service delivery improvement,
clinical guidance, communications, policy and advocacy, research, monitoring and evaluation. Ipas has also expanded into new areas of focus, including medical abortion, community access, youth, mHealth, and overcoming stigma. Most importantly, Ipas has supported the liberalization of restrictive laws and policies in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and has served millions of women with safe abortion care and contraception, in an effort to save and enhance their lives.
Ms. Maguire’s service to Ipas caps a distinguished 43-year career in international reproductive health, which included 22 years with the US Agency for International Development where she led the Office of Population and Reproductive Health during the 1990s. Previously, Ms. Maguire also served as Director of Media Programs at the Population Reference Bureau and as a broadcaster/translator for Francophone Africa at Voice of America. Ms. Maguire is a recipient of the Carl S. Shultz Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Population Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well as eight USAID special honor awards for policy and programmatic innovations.
“Following my retirement from Ipas, I look forward to continuing to contribute to the advancement of women’s reproductive health and rights globally and to maintaining the special friendships and professional relations that I have developed throughout my career. I have great confidence in the capacity and determination of Ipas staff and partners to continue creating an enabling environment for women everywhere to make their own reproductive decisions and to receive the information and care they need and deserve.”
Interested potential candidates for the position of Ipas President and CEO, or those who have names to suggest, should contact. Nalini Perkins, Managing Partner, Lochlin Partners nalini.perkins@lochlinpartners.com; 703-584-3218 www.lochlinpartners.com;
***For more information, contact media@ipas.org
